Leveling device for carriers



Jan.'12, 1932. A. N. BECKER LRVRLING DEVICE RoR CARRIERS Filed March l, 1928 UIN' Il Patented Jan. 12, 1932 uNIrE Dif.zsrxrssifaan* Eier? Freni .ALFoNsn N.' 2Brunnen,.oiaV ivrlmmnxnn,l'Wisconsin,Z Assieuon, .BY Mnsnn essieu#Y MENTS, To EAUTOMATIG: PARKING. ,sYsfnmyIs,1NG;, Aoonronemlon f on ,'ILLINoIs j LEVELING; DEVICE Fone energien;v

This 'f-inventiona relates ato improvements :in z

15 'provide a leveling-.f device fj lfor. Carriers ,L im,

which a novel means is'emjployed orabsorbay ing the :shook oausedfin makingfga land-inra It is a more .speciicV Yobject; :of this.` inveni-,a I tion to provide l a :leVeli-ngJdeVioe: fforcarriers zo'having an'impr'ovedjform of socket construe@ tion, in which thelsidesiofitthef socketf: aree adapted to Lyieldin" the dire'etion'inrfwhiohltheo carrier is traveling. .l 1 1 Itris .a ffurther 'object Tof this .invention tof-` 25 provide ank .improvedleveling: Ydevice :which 1 is particularly well 2 adapted 1 forffuse uponz.EV carriers inV garagel systems. .o 1 v -Itl is a urther'objeet:otithisainventiontoz; provide aV leveling device `.for barriers "..whi'eh 1.; Bol is simple in construction:and-operation;andi

Well? adapted foruthe purpose. fdesoribedf.

With the above sand other objectsi inf. view; the L invention consists .of :the improved` 'leveI eling device, and-.gal1 vits :parts andcombina-1 35- tions, asset forth infthe olaims5`1and all equiv-f.-

alents thereoitx In lthe aocompanyingxdrawings, inflwhioh` the same .reference characters xdesignateithes. same partsy in all of'thevie'ws :V Fig. 1 is sa V.fragmentary plany vievvrot Ea z z carrier and guideway,with the .improved'il'eveh eling device inconnection-therewith; i..

Fig; 2is a seetionaliviewftaken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; l 45.1.. Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of the socket, parts being broken away, the dotted lines showing one side of the socket yielding to the pressure of the engaging member; and

Fig. 4 is a detail front view 50 parts being broken away.

jacent a f-guideway 9.1 lnism comprises a suitable motor f1()` mounted of the socket,"

toftjhe fad] acentside 'lo'ieeesr Thesev springs 1903 Referring to the drawings, the Anumeral f8 designates-a :carri-er which is positioned adv-"- `The engagingineohae onzthe:oslrriergv Thernotor drive shaft :11 Veli-.,155 f vtends outwardly, and is journaled within-.a

bearing Aand `h'ousing112. Vithin the housing;- a gea-n wheel 113, mounted rigidly-on the-shaft,

.meshesf With largerv gear `14 on'V afseparate" shaft 15;,-V The latterfg-ear 1n turnfengages :1"260 gear lfw-hiohisrigidly mounted on a shaft 17.: .7

Oneend" rof .the shaft 17 extends through :its 1.

.bearing; l8, andis yformedwith a worm 19.y

thereon: The wormis' threaded inL athreaded bore4 of a block 20, the latter having aapin'65 21v f `proj eating :.ffro'm: each side engaging .f side pieoesf22rflhe1side pieces arexmounted ati the :inner rendof @a slidable memben23iv whichA latter1is: adapted to fmove within, lgafoovess24 .of guiding members 25. At the outerffendi'm of the slidable member, an extension=26 is riveted; :The latter. has ral bore. in; its"Y outer end;throughiwhichsaxpin 27, earryinganz'enl. gagingiwheel :28,rexi'zends.` lSecuredby suitable means to .a-plate29on75 v the vguideway, :isv la f channel'` bar 30. Two if spaeedy apart vplatesforinnerfsocket.membersl 31 eXtend transversely withinA said .channels bar,iand ,form ra; receptacle fory .the engaging wheel 28.- Apbolt V32'. extends-*through .the 80fchannel baradjacenteachsoeket member 31. Anfouter z socket iside Vpiece i33- is pivoted at--v f oneendzonfeaeh bolt v32, each sideLpieoe being.'y

formed at its inner end witha recessedextjen-Aly sion34 Vfor enga'gingthe roundedends of :their 85'r ysocketwmernbers31:to preventinward 1novement foizthe side zpieees.

l Y The outer endf-oii-:l` each side, pieee is ourfvedroutwardly. A pair.`r

. otangularstopimembers 35, secured byriv ets 36 tothe edge of the guideway, are .posiy9W tionedzadjaoent theouter :ends of :the side' pie'cesf. Theinner "edge of the fupwardy exer tensionof Teach' stop member is obliquelyeut as at 37 to correspond to the end of the side' piece 33,; the'cut-being at `suehan :angleffas 1.95 toxS-permitxoutward .movement of the sidef' a. pieces. f

K Siirrou-ndingeach?bolt'32 is avcoil'springfL 38,"eachof the latter having an end connected f All normally maintain the side pieces in the position shown by the full lines in Fig. 3. When the side pieces are moved outwardly, as shown by the dotted lines, the movement is against the tension of the spring.

lThe operation of the device is as follows: l/Vhen the carrier is approaching a landing point, the circuit to the motor l0 is automatically completed at a. proper' point, as fully explained and described in pending application Ser. No. 222,105. When this occurs, thc worm 19 revolves and causes the .engaging member to be threaded outwardly. As the carrier is sometimes moving at aconsiderable speed, it has been found desirable to provide means for absorbing the shock caused when the engaging wheel 28 enters the socket. For this reason, the yielding sides have been provided. As the wheel 28 strikes the side, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, the side piece will give against the tension o' the spring and absorb the shock. At the same time the side piece will act to properly-guide the engaging wheel into the space between the two plates or socket members 3l, the iinal position oi' the engaging wheel being lshown by the dotted lines in Fig. l. As each side piece is yieldingly pivoted, the same eii'ect will be produced in either direction oi travel.

From the foregoing description it may be seen that the leveling device for carriers has a very novel form of socket, is simple in con4 z struction, and is well adapted for the purpose described.

That I claim is:

l. The combination with a carrier and a carrier guideway, of a leveling device therefor, comprising a socket member having pivoted, yielding sides, and an engaging member for engaging and disengaging said socket member when the carrier is at a landing point, one of said members being positioned on the carrier and one of said members being positioned on the guideway.

2. The combination with a carrier and a carrier guideway, of a leveling device therefor, comprising a pair o1 spaced apart socket side pieces, each side piece being pivoted at its inner end to the guideway, a stop member secured to the guideway adjacent the outer end of each side piece, an engaging member on the carrier for engaging and disengaging the socket member, and yielding means in connection with each socket side piece.

3. The combination with a carrier and a carrier guideway, of a leveling device therefor, comprising a pair of spaced apart plates on the guideway, a socket side piece for each plate, each side piece having its inner end pivoted adjacent its respective plate, a stop member fixed to the guideway adjacent each side jqiece, each stop member having an edge iormally flush with the outer end of its respective side piece, an engaging member on the carrier for engaging and disengaging the socket members, and yielding means in connection with each side piece.

4. The combination with a carrier and a carrier guideway, of a leveling device therefor, comprising a channel bar secured to the guideway, a pair of spaced apart plates transversely positioned within said channel bar, a bolt extending through the channel bar adjacent each plate, a socket side piece for each bolt, each side piece having its inner end pivoted to its respective bolt, a coil spring surrounding each bolt and having an end connected to the adjacent side piece, a stop member lined to the guideway adjacent each side piece, each stop member having an edge normally flush with the outer end of its respective side piece, and an engaging member on the carrier for engaging and disengaging the socket members.

5. rl`he combination with a carrier and a carrier guideway, of a leveling device therefor, comprising a pair of spaced anart guiding members on the carrier, an engaging member slidable between said guiding members, a block having a threaded bore therein mounted on said slidable engaging member, a worm shaft threaded in the bore of said block, a gear rigidly secured to said worm shaft, a driving motor, gear means connecting said motor with the gear on the worm shaft, and a socket on the guideway for engagement by said engaging member.

rllhe combination with a carrier and a carrier guideway, of a leveling device therefor comprising an engaging member and a socket member, one of said members being positioned on the carrier and the other'ol said members being positioned on the guideway, said socket member having iiXed inner side portions and having outer side portions, and yielding means in connection with said outer side portions to cause the latter to yieldingly guide the engaging member between the lined inner side portions. f

7. The combination with a carrier and a carrier guideway, of a leveling device therefor, comprising a socket member, and an engaging member for engaging and disengag- -ing said socket member when the carrier is at .a landing point, one ot said members being positioned on the carrier and one of said members being positioned on the guideway, said socket having independently yielding side portions for yieldingly guiding the engaging member therein.

lu testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature.

ALFONSE N. BECKER. 

